A Father Daughter Dance
by Andie B. Glind
Summary: A Father Daughter Dance: a night that should be filled with happiness and joy. But what if your father cannot be there? A short story about how the Doctor helped his 15 year old companion, Kelsey. Please read and review.


"You look upset," Kelsey walked into the room to find the Doctor sitting on her bed. She sighed, "Long day, I'm tired." She dropped her bag on the floor and slumped in her chair.

"Wasn't your school suppose to end at 3 today?" the Doctor continued to ask, ignoring her previous answer completely.

"It did, it's only 3.30 now," she glared at him.

"Oh right..." the Doctor admitted sheepishly. She was not surprised that the Doctor did not pay attention to time. He seldom does to the mundane bits of human life. Of course, he often considered things like sleeping mundane as well. Her usual 15 year old self would tease the Doctor, but she was in no mood today. The Doctor realised it as well.

"Something is bothering you?" his question sounded more like a statement.

"It's nothing, I'm just being silly," she said, turning her face away from the Doctor.

"What about?" the Doctor asked. Kelsey did not reply, instead she handed a flyer to the Doctor. The Doctor scanned the heading, 'Annual Father and Daughter Waltz' was written at the top with a classy cursive font. "Oh... Kelsey," whispered him gently.

"It's fine, I dont want to go anyway," Kelsey said, taking the flyer and stuffing it back into her bag. Putting on her best smile, she asked, "Where are we going today?"

"Kelsey," the Doctor began and Kelsey knew he was still going to talk about the dance. He moved closer to her and said, "I could go with you, if you like." Kelsey went silent, surprised by the offer. The Doctor took her silence the wrong way. Quickly, he stuttered, "I'm not saying that I am replacing your father in anyway. I know you have a father but he isn't here... I don't mean he doesn't want to here... I mean he can't be here... not that he is dead... I mean..."

"He is in jail?" Kelsey finished the sentence for him.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed flatly.

"Really? You would go with me?"

"Yes, it will be great. There will be dancing and music and ooh... not to mention those tiny cheese bites. I love those. And we could go shopping, I know of this dress shop in planet Bastapus, or was it Goaclite, but anyway, they sell the best dress in the universe. You would not even believe the kind of clothes they sell." the Doctor was clearly getting a little bit over excited about the whole thing. Kelsey smiled as he continued to ramble on about the beautiful dresses. Finally, he ran out of things to talk about, "So, do you still want to go?"

"Yeah, it sounds great!" Kelsey laughed, trying to cheer herself up, as they entered the TARDIS to head for this dress shop on the other side of the universe.

* * *

"So where are we going today?" Kelsey asked.

"Nowhere, today you are going to learn how to dance. The dance is in 3 days, remember?" the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her into one of the various rooms of the TARDIS. It was not exactly a dance studio, it was just an empty room with a CD player, but it would serve their purpose well.

Kelsey nervously wiped her hands on her skirt. She has never danced by herself before, let alone with someone. What if she steps on the Doctor, or if her hands were sweaty. A Chopin waltz started to play in the background. Wordlessly, the Doctor took her right hand in his left and placed his right hand on her shoulder blades. He pressed her body close to his. Kelsey tensed. She was never fond of human contact. It will be easier to turn, the Doctor explained, sensing her tensing.

And they began dancing. It was nothing like she imagined. She felt like she was continuously going to fall over, clinging for her balance. She had no idea what the steps were, instead she was just trying not to step on the Doctor or to fall over. The Doctor started with the basic steps and a few simple turns, but to Kelsey, they were confusing and scary.

"Relax, you are doing fine," the Doctor whispered in her ear as her head swung wildly around, unsure of where she was suppose to be looking.

"It doesn't feel fine," she hissed in his ears.

"What does it feel like?" she could hear him grinning as he continued to whirl her around.

"Scary and like I am about to fall over or step on you," she retorted. The Doctor laughed, distracting her. She grimaced as she felt her feet making contact with his. He ignored it.

"Relax, and it will be fun, trust me," the Doctor gave her shoulder a tight squeeze as if to prove the point.

Oh well, what is the worse that could happen, she thought as she relaxed and let her body follow the controls of the Doctor. It felt amazing. It felt like she was flying, gracefully soaring through the air. Her feet was stepping with rhythms that she never thought she could.

"You are brilliant," the Doctor exclaimed once the song ended.

"That was amazing," she breathed. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"

"What? In 900 years of time and space, you thought I could not dance?" the Doctor let out a playful pout.

* * *

The school hall was transformed into a ballroom. Kelsey was wearing a deep blue dress bought from Goaclite. She chose that colour because it reminded her of the TARDIS. The dress had a simple but elegant design, but it fitted her perfectly. Beside her, the Doctor was dressed in a black suit with a maroon vest. He was also wearing a smart black bowtie. Bowties are cool, he had defended himself when Kelsey laughed at it.

"They are all looking at us," Kelsey whispered to the Doctor as they danced. Kelsey was getting rather self conscious. She knew they looked weird together, for he was clearly not her dad. It was age difference between them was barely large enough for him to be her father and most importantly, she was Asian and he clearly was not.

"That is because you look amazing," the Doctor whispered back, as he led her into a dip.

Kelsey stood at the corner of the hall, with a half finished mini quiche in her hands. The Doctor was clearly enjoying himself, they not only had mini cheese sticks, but also mini quiches and cupcakes and many other food. The Doctor was currently having a rather interesting conversation, or was it a debate, with of the the dads. Kelsey looked around the room, all the fathers and their daughters. Many had their arms around their girl, enjoying each others company.

She tried to think back about her own father. She could not even remember the last time they hugged each other. She was never close to her father and he did not care much about her either. For him, it was always work, work was the most important thing, even more important than family. He had high expectations for his children and failure was considered a weakness. And weakness was not to be tolerated in the family. Tears began to form in her eyes as she wondered if she will ever have a father.

She could not take it anymore, and casting a final look at all the loving dads in the room, she headed towards the field.

* * *

"Which one would you like to go," a familiar voice sounded. Kelsey jumped up slightly in shock. She had been sitting in the sports stand by the school field, staring at the moon.

"I was looking at the moon," she said, not turning to face the Doctor beside her.

"We could go there too."

"No... its just the song, you know 'Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight. Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight.' Do you think he misses me?" Kelsey said after a long pause, tears were beginning to form in her eyes again.

"Of course he misses you, he loves you, he is your father," the Doctor moved closer to Kelsey.

"But... he was never a real father to me before and those things he did, those horrible things ... and now we are apart for so long... I just feel like I don't have a father." Kelsey looked up at the Doctor, she was on the verge of crying. Her voice turned hard at that moment, "Why can't I have a dad, I just want someone to be my dad. Everyone has a dad, why not me?"

"Life doesn't work that way, Kelsey," the Doctor said gently, wrapping his arms around her. It was a rare gesture for Kelsey was not especially fond of hugging except when she was extremely upset.

"Why not, what did I do wrong?" she twisted her head to look at the Doctor. Tears were forming and pain filled her brown eyes. "What did I do wrong?" she repeated, her voice breaking.

"You did nothing wrong Kelsey, nothing," the Doctor tightened his hug, and gave her a small kiss on her head, "Besides, you have me. I will be here for you, always. That is kinda like a dad, isn't it?"

Silently Kelsey nodded. They sat there in dead of the night, enjoying each other's quiet company. The Doctor pointed out various stars to her, describing the wonderful worlds out there in great detail. There was Glecotania, where every family consisted of a male, a female and one of neutral gender. And there was Skufatis, where 10 suns soar in their violet skies. Of couse, the Doctor mentioned Fliuq, a planet where rainbows painted the sky and snichi (a kind of space fruit that tasted like honey mixed with blueberries) grew over the yellow mountains.

"Do you want to head back in?" the Doctor finally asked, his tone was gentle.

"No, not really," Kelsey admitted. She felt bad that she ruined the Doctor's evening. "I am sorry."

"How about chips at the shop down the street?"

"Yes, that will be nice," Kelsey smiled.

"Alright kiddo, allonsy!"

* * *

 **Please review. English is not my first language and I am really struggling to express myself with English, so any help at all will be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)**


End file.
